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Binance recommends P2P as Ukraine suspends hryvnia use on crypto exchanges

March 5, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Following the temporary suspension from Ukraine’s central bank, crypto exchanges like Binance and Kuna made official announcements informing investors about the inconvenience.

Ukraine temporarily suspended the use of its national currency, the hryvnia, via banking cards for fiat deposits and withdrawals on crypto exchanges. While the move immediately impacted how investors move funds to and from exchanges, Binance reminded users about how peer-to-peer (P2P) services come in handy when trading cryptocurrencies.

Following the temporary suspension from Ukraine’s central bank, crypto exchanges like Binance and Kuna made official announcements informing investors about the inconvenience. Michael Chobanian, the founder of local crypto exchange Kuna, acknowledged the service disruption. However, he said he would explain the nuances of the development at a later stage.

*Kuna founder Michael Chobanian recommending Bitcoin as Ukraine halts hryvnia use on crypto exchanges. Source: Telegram*

Chobanian further pointed out how such regulatory decisions have no impact on the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem and added that (rough translation):

“Regarding the hryvnia card and input/output to the exchange. Yes, it doesn’t work … We are looking for ways out of the situation, under the threat of stopping the entire Ukrainian crypto/card UAH market.”

Binance, too, acknowledged the problem as regulators suspended the use of hryvnia on crypto exchanges. However, Binance had an alternative solution as it recommended (rough translation):

“We suggest using the P2P service so that you can continue to use Binance comfortably.”

The crypto exchange utilized the occasion to inform users that peer-to-peer services allow users to exchange crypto and fiat currencies directly with other users without the need for a middleperson like banks.

Ukraine’s anti-crypto stance comes as a shock considering the country netted over $70 million in crypto donations since the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

*Cryptocurrencies donated to Ukraine wallets provided by the Ukrainian government. Source:* *Chainalysis*

“If we used the traditional financial system, it was going to take days [...] We were able to secure the purchase of vital items in no time at all via crypto, and what is amazing is that around 60% of suppliers were able to accept crypto, I didn’t expect this,” said Ukrainian deputy digital minister Alex Bornyakov on Feb. 24.

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Bitcoiner sentenced to federal prison warns users involved in OTC trading

September 5, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

"I'm just a regular Bitcoiner caught in the crosshairs," claimed Mark Alexander Hopkins, also known as Rizzn, prior to serving his prison sentence.

Mark Alexander Hopkins, also known by the moniker ‘Doctor Bitcoin’ or their handle Rizzn, has claimed that “transacting Bitcoin p2p is a federal crime” after announcing the sentence in their case to social media followers.

In a Sunday Twitter thread, Hopkins said that they were facing between 6 to 15 months at a federal correctional institution in Texas following a guilty plea for allegedly operating a crypto business without the necessary licensing. According to Rizzn, the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, used a 2019 interpretation of a law — 18 U.S.C. 1960 — originally enacted in 1992 to charge them with illegally operating a “money transmitting business.”

“This means that any time anyone with a crypto trades p2p (i.e., not with an exchange), they’re legally liable under this statute as it’s currently interpreted,” said Rizzn. “In practice, this is a catch-all law. I was originally suspected of being a kingpin in this particular scam, and when it was clear I was not, they were able to easily build a case that I had not registered federally before selling my bitcoins.”

So hey, I'm going offline for an indeterminate amount of time. I'm headed down to Beaumont FCI, where Uncle Sam will be footing the bill for my room and board for the next 6 to 15 months for the crime of selling #Bitcoin a few years ago. pic.twitter.com/2VwI2KEZ4N
— FreeRizzn.eth (,) (@rizzn) September 4, 2022

The Bitcoiner, who said they joined the space in 2011, claimed that they were “one of hundreds of thousands of OTC traders” in 2019 amid a bad actor involved in an illegal lottery scheme using the trading group to launder funds with Bitcoin (BTC) purchases. Rizzn claimed facilitating fiat-to-crypto exchanges on behalf of the party — who they hinted did not know was being investigated for a crime — resulted in being targeted by U.S. authorities:

“I cooperated fully with the 15 armed FBI agents who raided my home in Oct of 2019. I wasn’t able to find a crypto-fluent attorney after I was raided in 2020 [...] I was told that if I plead to the 18 USC 1960 charge, any actions against my family would be dropped.”

According to Rizzn, they were “fully registered as a Bitcoin seller with FinCEN” but the Justice Department still targeted them based on their involvement in the illicit transactions. Acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah said at the time that Hopkins “ignored federal law and allowed fraudsters to use Bitcoin to operate under the radar of law enforcement” and did not take steps to verify the source of the funds involved in the transactions — between $550,000 and $1.5 million at the time. Rizzn has disputed many of the Justice Department's claims, saying that they performed the proper Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering practices.

“Here's the thing that makes this important to pay attention to and resolve: I'm a nobody,” said Rizzn.

“I'm not Ross. I wasn't on the dark web. I'm not Edward. I didn't work for the NSA. I'm not Julian. I didn't break national secrets. I'm just a regular Bitcoiner caught in the crosshairs.”

Prior to entering prison, the Bitcoiner called for regulatory clarity between the state and federal levels in the U.S. seemingly in an effort to ensure other crypto users do not face the same enforcement action.

“In much the same way that the feds and states differ on cannabis usage, the Feds and the states are at odds about p2p crypto usage,” said Rizzn. "Delaware, Texas and Wyoming are actively promoting p2p crypto usage in such a way that they’re manufacturing hundreds of thousands of felons (like me!) every day. There needs to be a) clarity on how to be as compliant as possible and b) ideally a rollback of the overreaching guidance in the first place.”

FinCEN leveled similar charges against a California resident in April 2019, alleging they wilfully violated money transmission laws while working as a P2P exchanger of crypto and fiat. However, the accused in that case faced only a $35,000 fine and being barred from similar financial activities — not prison time.

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Tether, Bitfinex, Hypercore collab to launch encrypted P2P apps

July 25, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Alliance

The trio launched Holepunch with a vision to bestow control over data while breaking technology monopolies, among others.

Staying true to the “bear market is for building” motto, crypto exchange Bitfinex along with Tether (USDT) and Hypercore announced the launch of a fully encrypted platform, Holepunch, for building peer-to-peer applications. As part of the initiative, the trio launched Keet, an encrypted application capable of facilitating real-time audio and video calls, text chat and file sharing.

Partners aim to bestow control over data while breaking technology monopolies with Holepunch, according to the announcement. Tether and Bitfinex funded the development of the Holepunch platform. Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer of Tether and Bitfinex, will lead the new initiative as the chief strategy officer.

Speaking on behalf of Tether and Bitfinex, Ardoino highlighted the need to address the growing privacy concerns, stating:

“It [Tether and Bitfinex] believes that freedom of choice, communication and finances are the lifeblood of the future, and anything that will enhance those freedoms is worth amplifying.”

Holepunch currently operates as a closed source protocol in its alpha or pre-release phase, which will be moved to open source code by the end of 2022. In doing so, Holepunch will not use blockchain technology at its core and will instead move to an in-house payments API powered by the Lightning Network.

Developers building solutions on the Holepunch protocol will be able to use USDT as default for micropayments. However, the company is yet to disclose support for other cryptocurrencies and stablecoins.

Blockchain-based metaverse and Web3 platforms joined hands to form Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3 (OMA3), an alliance built on four core principles — transparency, inclusiveness, decentralization and democratization.

As Cointelegraph reported, the alliance will focus its efforts on specific metaverse-related topics, which include setting standards for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), protocols, transferable identity, portals between virtual worlds, mapping and indexing.

Bitcoin trading volumes post new high in Philippines peso on Paxful

July 14, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Weekly Bitcoin trading volumes in the Philippines peso were steadily growing on Paxful this year and eventually hit a new high in July.

Despite some level of regulatory uncertainty around cryptocurrency in the Philippines, one platform has recorded a massive influx of Bitcoin (BTC) trading activity recently.

Bitcoin trading volumes in the Philippines have been on the rise over the past few months on the major peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchange Paxful.

According to data from the Bitcoin tracking website Coin Dance, Bitcoin trading volumes denominated in the Philippines peso (PHP) have been steadily growing on Paxful recently and eventually hit a new high in July.

Paxful’s Bitcoin trading volumes peaked at 111 million PHP ($1.9 million) during the week ending on July 9, 2022. That was the biggest amount of PHP ever traded against Bitcoin on Paxful.

*Paxful’s weekly Bitcoin trading volumes in PHP. Source: Coin Dance*

The amount of actual Bitcoin traded on Paxful against PHP during that week was 92 BTC, slightly down from the previous week ending on July 2.

A notable influx in BTC trading started in early May, with Bitcoin trading volumes more than doubling over a period of months. As of early May, Paxful’s weekly BTC trading volumes in the Philippines amounted to just around 40 BTC.

Despite the recent upside in BTC trading volumes, the number of Bitcoins traded per week on Paxful in the Philippines is still yet to break the all-time high weekly volumes of 111 BTC posted in August 2020.

*Paxful’s weekly Bitcoin trading volumes in the Philippines. Source: Coin Dance*

The rise of Bitcoin trading on Paxful in the Philippines started amid a massive bearish trend in the cryptocurrency markets, with Bitcoin losing about 50% of its value since early May. BTC trading volumes in PHP surged even higher on Paxful after Bitcoin tumbled below $19,000 in late June.

The significant growth of PHP/BTC trading on Paxful also came amid the weakening local currency coupled with rising inflation. The Philippine central bank will reportedly decide whether to hike interest rates in mid-August amid inflation that is expected to grow above 7% by the end of the year from the current 6.1%.

The overall sentiment around crypto adoption in the Philippines has been rising in recent years as well, with many local firms moving into crypto trading. In April 2022, Philippines-based fintech firm PayMaya reportedly launched a crypto feature allowing users to trade, purchase and spend crypto on their accounts. The firm is among 19 official virtual asset service providers approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to offer virtual asset services.

According to Terry Ridon, a local lawyer and convenor at the Infrawatch PH think tank, the rise in crypto adoption in the Philippines is a result of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“Crypto is becoming more popular in the Philippines because the country started shifting to digital payment systems during the pandemic. The ease of entry into the cryptocurrency markets through various apps has also allowed more people to participate in the sector,” he said in a statement to Cointelegraph.

P2P

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